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Owstown
History Founding Owstown was founded in the year 338 of the Third Age as a small, coastal town. It's initial population was only around 2,000 and it was established on orders of the Senate, to provide a port to Danar. Being a coastal city, it grew rapidly, as the fishing brought in lots of food, and the port allowed Danar to begin trading with Hollinia, which made the town a source of great wealth. As more towns sprung up on the coast, Owstown began to lose relevance, and it's growth stalled out as Miscost became the new centre of trade. Colonial Growth In the 900s of the Fourth Age the attempts to settle the Northmarsh reinvigorated Owstown, as it became the port of call for all trade flowing to the south. The town grew rapidly, as for the next hundred years the Northmarsh town served as a beacon of growth for Owstown. When at last the town was abandoned in the year 36 of the Fifth Age, the growth came to a sudden halt, the final drips coming in the form of the last people of Northmarsh. Administration Regional Senate Owstown is home to a Regional Senate. It's a Senate controlled heavily by four families, who hold the Senate with an iron grip. The families are the Abel family, the Quickly family, the Pickering family and the Shadowthorn family. The Governor is Warrick Abel. Overall the Regional Senate is poorly regarded. Outside of Owstown, the populace has no issue with the Senate, however within the town, it's corrupt nature is known to all, and the citizens view the ruling families with resentment at the way they abuse the laws to make themselves rich. Grand Senate The Grand Senate pays little attention to Owstown. The four families send very few representatives to the Grand Senate, and while at least one always has a Senator sitting, there hasn't been four Senators within the four families since the Northmarsh settlements fell. The other families aren't particularly concerned with Owstown, as the 80-odd seats held in Owstown don't prevent them from using the Owstown Regional Senate as a stepping stone forward. Crime and Policing The town guard of Owstown is notoriously underfunded, and many members of it's ranks are outright corrupt, having ties to the four families, or the major crime syndicates that run within the town. Those who aren't corrupt, are too few to truly stand up and stop the covert war being waged on the streets. On the streets there are five main factions. The Quickly family, the Pickering family and the Shadowthorn family all have criminal stakes in the city. In addition, the People's League and the Syndicate both hold stakes in the city. The People's League is generally well regarded by the populace, as they act as a form of law enforcement, charging fair protection, and only targeting the other families with their activities. The other four factions however, are much less popular within the populace, and are begrudgingly tolerated by those who pay them. Local Legends The Fiddler and the Wreck Being a coastal town, Owstown is very familiar with tales of the Fiddler. Both Miscost and Summerport have their own share of stories about the Fiddler, however they're most commonly told, and believed in Owstown. Ships sailing the seas near Danar occasionally encounter the Fiddler on their journey. No stories of an individual ship encountering the Fiddler have ever returned, and they seem to be safe from his wrath. Fleets however, often end up being only a single ship limping into port to tell the tales of the Fiddler. The Fiddler is a seemingly supernatural entity. It sails the seas alone, atop a ship known only as the Wreck. Everyone who sees it claims that there's no way such a ship could stay afloat, but it does, riding the waves of the eternal storm that follows the Fiddler everywhere he goes. The recounts from the survivors tell of his terrifying speed, as the boat catches even the fastest of fleets, and engulfs them in the storm. The boats go down one by one, until only one remains. This final boat is left to limp away and tell the story. As every boat goes down, the sound of the Fiddler playing can be heard, and some who have sailed close enough to the Wreck tell of him,a mere skeleton, clothed in tatters, dancing with wild abandon around the ship. No sailors in Owstown knowingly sail out in fleets larger than three ships, as they seem to be regularly safe. The stories of the Fiddler now are few and far between, and those who do tell it often hail from distant lands, sailors who never knew of the terror that haunts these shores. The Madhouse In the Slums there's a building known as the Madhouse. It was once an asylum for those who had caught the Marsh Madness, however in recent times it's fallen into disrepair. The last resident ended up killing himself from the Marsh Madness, and rumors float around that his ghost haunts the Madhouse, wandering it's halls in search of the living. Those who go close to the house sometimes claim to have heard muttering, and they walk away not themselves for the next few days. These days, no one dares go near the Madhouse, except those who may be mad themselves, as one of the former residents is said to have been quite wealthy, and his treasures are supposedly locked within. The Sewer Crawler Below the city, within the sewers, it's said a creature lives. A tentacled monstrosity, this creature feeds on the scraps of the city. On rare occasion a citizen reports having seen the creature, when it emerges through grates in the streets. The reports are unreliable at best, but all carry a few common features. Whatever it is, it's got a writhing mass of tentacles, and it only emerges when something strays close enough for it to grab it. Most reports claim to have seen a dog, or other small animal be grabbed, and dragged in, however fear is mounting a person will be dragged in next.